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We speak to Ian Waterson – Editor of www.cityindependent.net – ahead of the Swans’ trip to the KCOM Stadium this weekend…

How’s your season been so far?
Reaping what we’ve sown, I’m afraid. The bad seeds planted in summer are really beginning to yield an extremely poor crop. A shed load of players left after promotion – and then manager Steve Bruce wasn’t allowed to sign anyone – so we entered the Premier League with a 13 man squad. A trolley dash on transfer deadline day at the end of August plugged gaping holes, but ultimately – and surprise, surprise – lacked serious quality. Through laziness, thoughtlessness and carelessness, caretaker Mike Phelan was given the gig full time and it’s been all downhill since… Silva arrives?

What did you make of the decision to fire Mike Phelan and hire Marco Silva?
Weird. Phelan should never have been given the job in the first place, he was woefully out of his depth anyway, without having both hands tied behind his back by the wretched owners. All roads lead to the Allams for the troubles at Hull City. They wrongly banked on a sale – hence the lack of investment into the squad – and ruined every opportunity for a sale taking place by continually shifting the goal posts, or trying to ratchet up the price at the last moment with any respective buyers. Phelan had to go as results nose-dived, but the left field appointment of Silva, left many baffled. Super agent Jorge Mendes offered up Silva to the Allams (with rumours of finding yet another Chinese buyer into the bargain for the owners to annoy) but you can’t knock Silva’s pedigree. He looks way too good for us, therefore, he’ll be gone at the end of the season, however this tale ends.

There were a few comings and goings at the club in January. What did you make of the business you did?
Overall, it was good, but then, anything would be an improvement from the summer transfer window shambles we endured back in August. But let’s not kid ourselves here, barring Grosicky, the players that came in are all loans and freebies ready to be offloaded should the seemingly inevitable occur.

You’re currently 5 points behind Swansea in the table. Is this a must win game for your club or is it too early for that just yet?
Too early for all that guff just yet, but mark my words, nobody is out of jail in the bottom half. There will be plenty of twists and turns before the fat lady sings.

You’ve been unhappy with the owner of the club for sometime, how is the relationship between the Allam’s and the supporters at the moment and is a sale in the pipeline?
Abysmal. The relationship has completely broken down. The controversial and concession-less membership scheme (yes, really) has been the final straw for many. The vindictiveness over the name-change still stinks the place out too. The owners have erased the name of our club from everywhere, including the ground, the matchday programme, social media, the club badge, etc, etc. Couple this with the damage being done to the next generation of fans and it will take decades to repair. The owners won’t speak to the fans, the media or even attend matches with their self-imposed exile from the club. Even more baffling then, why a club we were categorically told would be sold in 24 hours… is now well over 1000 days overdue on fulfilling that promise. Consequently, expect a flat, lame and grim atmosphere up here on Saturday. The passion has been sucked out of the ones who actually bother to go these days. It’s not good.

What do you make of Swansea and who if anyone do you fear?
I was surprised by Paul Clement’s appointment, I’m staggered he’s actually getting some results for you. Seems like a man who is fine when the going is good, but appears susceptible to pressure when it all begins to unravel. For your sake, you need to hope the bubble doesn’t burst soon. His past record, repeatedly suggests such a pattern under his tenure. His counterpart Marco Silva will tell the Hull City players to fear nobody, instill some confidence in his squad and above all, strive to win. Since his arrival, he’s attempted to win every game – and to his credit, he has been getting results.

Predict the score, where both teams will finish and which three teams will end up being relegated?
Hate predictions, don’t think there will be much in it, in fairness. I reckon one goal wins it. Who gets it, though, that’s the big question. Despite how good Silva is, he needs miracles to climb out of this hole were in, thanks to our negligent owners. Therefore, I wouldn’t go large on Hull City escaping relegation if being totally honest. There’s an awful lot of ground to make up. On the plus side, we’ve got all the relegation contenders to play at home and our run-in looks arguably the most favourable now we’ve played nearly all the big boys. But, as alluded to earlier, no club is safe yet, Swansea included. We shall see…

Here's our opposition view for this week, as we speak to Hull City supporter and City Independent Editor, Ian Waterson.

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